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Pathwalking into “The World”

I did a tarot pathwalking exercise as a homework assignment given by my spiritual mentor. The following is my notes on the meditation that followed. The deck I used was Shadowscapes Tarot. The card was “The World.” I struggled at first, however, in choosing my card as I felt an intense attraction to both “Justice” and “The High Priestess.” I was torn between the two until stumbling across “The World,” which instantly felt right for its imagery and the intense colors.

As I stepped into the card, I was immediately aware that I had become the woman in the card. My hair was long and flowing. I was fully aware of the crown upon my head which stretched up towards the sky and the long flowing gown in the colors of the earth, sky, and sea which billowed in the wind around my legs. On my arms were red chords that kept energy I did not want from entering my hands. I was holding the orb – the orb of life, of the world, of interconnectedness. I carried it carefully.

I began walking, feeling the grass beneath my feet and noticing that around me was an abundance of green trees and foliage, nestled tightly around me. It was not in any way uncomfortable, but rather like home… It was a safe cacoon of nature and green. Many different types of leaves surrounded me – too many to pick out their type. In the twilight, the moon glowing full overhead, I found myself approaching a rocky area.

These pebbles lead to a stream. I walked near the stream for a time, noticing each footfall. Ahead, a lake came into view. I lowered myself down into the pure clear water. I noted that the moon overhead was so bright as to illuminate everything that was around me – so brightly it seemed like day time. As I waded into the water, I allowed the orb to come out of my hands. It floated on the water.

As if this were a key of some sort, a large rock suddenly appeared in front of me. I had the sense that it was a gray stone, yet it seemed to contain immense life force and energy. Upon the stone were a silver sword, an abalone shell with a lavender smudge burning, a chalice (it had no sense of color, though it seemed perhaps to be made of metal – perhaps gold), and a yew wand. The wand had both abalone and opal on it with golden wiring on the handle. First, I drank from the chalice of the lake water which was as crisp and pure as water can possibly be. Then, I took the sword and cut a small cut into my palm, allowing the blood to run over the stone as I touched my hand to it. Then, I picked up the yew wand, pointing it at the sky. Energy beamed from the wand, sending a cascade of glittering color down everything and a single thought and feeling surfaced in my mind: love.

With this done, I took the orb back. Using the red bindings around my wrists, I roped the orb to my back and then swam to a small island where there was a tangled old yew tree. A sat down before it and focused on my breathing. Many flowers, shrubs, vines, and trees began to grow around me. I knelt, then rocked forward and pressed my forehead to the ground asking Gaia what I needed to know.

Her voice welled up out of the earth. “Love yourself, and by doing so, you will love all.”

I repeated this for a time until it seemed to sink in, then again took the orb and carefully carried it on. At the end of the journey lay a pedestal and a throne. I placed the orb upon the pedestal and then sat in the throne. There was little sense of anything but these two stone fixtures at first. As soon as I sat upon the throne, the orb upon the pedestal slid forward, the orb fusing with my body by sinking into my abdomen. It was as if I was impregnated with the love of the world.

Finally tipping my head back, once again noticing the huge, luminous moon just overhead, I began to become aware of connection. At the center of the world in my present, I began to breath, each breath expanding my awareness outward. First to the city, then the county, then the surrounding counties, the state, the surrounding states, the whole of my country, the surrounding countries, one half of the world, the whole world. Each breath opened my awareness more until I my eyelids were flickering with each individual connection.

“Love yourself, and you love the world.”

This sort of message continued to repeat several times as I breathed through the sensation. Then, at last, everything became still. Awareness of the gown on my skin. Awareness of the moon overhead. The green. The throne. Then, slowly fading as I reintegrated with my body, opening my eyes back into the present.